Senator calls election casinos “a profound corruption of our democracy” in Senate floor address
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today launched a new effort to prevent betting on U.S. elections.
Merkley introduced the Ban Gambling on Elections Act—a new bill to prevent Wall Street from setting up massive political betting markets that could influence and interfere with American elections while further eroding public trust in democracy.
“When big bets are cast on elections and dark money can smear candidates, you have the perfect combination of factors to destroy the integrity of our elections,” Merkley said. “Reducing our democracy to a horse race for the wealthy to bet on cheapens and weakens our democratic process by prioritizing money over the will of the American people. That is a bad bet for our democracy, and we cannot allow the voice of the voters to be undermined.”
Last week, less than two months before one of the most consequential elections in our lifetimes, a federal judge overturned a decision from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to reject a proposal by a private prediction market operator to allow legal gambling on U.S. elections. A federal appeals court has since paused the ruling.
Earlier this week, Merkley took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to warn about efforts by Wall Street firms to exploit American democracy for profit. Video of the speech can be found by clicking here or on the image below:
“Imagine this—Election Day is approaching. Ultra-rich Americans and huge corporations bet billions of dollars on the outcome of which party controls the House of Representatives or Senate,” Merkley said on the Senate floor. “As the election approaches, one or two races might make the difference on whether they win or lose that bet. They now have a huge incentive to spend another vast sum smearing the candidate they want to lose. That is a profound corruption of our democracy.”
The Ban Gambling on Elections Act is cosponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
Previously, Merkley urged the CFTC to reject a then-pending proposal from a Wall Street firm to allow for legal gambling on U.S. elections and their outcomes. He also led his colleagues in urging CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam to finalize and implement a proposed rule to ban election betting. Merkley penned an op-ed to elaborate on the ways that legalizing election betting would undermine American elections.
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